Tales of the Brave and the Strong
by Yotoishness
Summary: Just a little story of a band of adventurers I may continue if I get any reviews, also my first piece of work. Rated T for now
1. Prelude

Prelude

The night is heavy with silence, the only noise being a lone breeze freely venturing the land. Down the road it speeds, around the trees it curls, carrying on it the smell of flowers from a garden it passed. But soon, it carries not the sweet aroma of flowers, but the foul stench of charred buildings.

The wind carelessly billows past the ravaged town, but let us stop here and leave the wind to it's business. All around, nothing is left but ashes and charred wood. The stench of smoke is overwhelming, and a few weak fires are still burning. Rising from the destroyed and barren land are spears, everywhere, with bodies upon them. Young bodies, old bodies, male bodies, female bodies. The massacre surrounding this town is horrible.

Somewhere in the wreckage there is a creak, and a small man, chuckling with insanity hops out of a destroyed building. "Your will has been done here master…" he cackles with a horrid smile on his face. "The town has been destroyed, not a one remains!"

"Yes, and I have what I need from this place. I shall depart now." Says a dark voice, from all around the small man.

"Yes, yes, we shall leave now master." The small man chirps happily. "Where do we go now?"

The dark voice only laughs. But I think that's not what I should call it. His 'laugh' was more like the wailing of a thousand dying men, and he said to the man, "Ah, but Kirn, you shall not be going anywhere!" And his laughter intensified to the point that the ground shook.

"But, but master!" Was all he could say, before a large bolt of fire fell from the sky, and a hideous shriek pierced the night air.

The land was once more silent.


	2. Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1

"I got this one!"

The last thing the remainder of a goblin scout troop saw was an arrow deep in his forehead. He fell to the ground as blood ran from the wound, his body landing with a soft thud on the body of one of his fallen comrades.

"Haha! That was a beautiful shot, was it not?" said a man holding bow in an amused tone. He was wearing a shirt and pair of pants made of a light tan leather, to provide some small amount of protection. He had on black gloves with the fingers cut off, and boots made of the same material as his clothing. His long brown hair was drawn back into a ponytail so he didn't grab it while shooting an arrow, and his green eyes looked triumphantly at his small dwarven partner.

The dwarf grunted as he kicked a dead goblins body. "Aye, but I'm a might but upset ye killed my next target." He shot the human a semi-angry look. "Jericho, start searching thar worthless hides, would ya?" Jericho gave him a look of mock annoyance, but agreed none the less and began looting the bodies.

The dwarf began looking for any hidden enemies, moving as quietly as possible, which was kind of hard as his heavy plate armor shirt clanked with every step. He held a bastard sword in his hands, ready to strike down anything he found that he didn't like. His steel helmet was hanging from a loop in his belt, and the rest of his body was also covered in steel plate, down to his boots.

"Doesn't look like thar's anything else here Jericho. You find what we was sent to fetch?" He spit on the ground. He hated being used to retrieve peoples lost items, but it paid, and they had not much else to do.

The human grinned as he pulled an amulet off the body of a dead goblin. "This fits the description we were given Torgir!" He replied, holding the amulet towards the dwarf so he could further examine it. Torgir was always the final authority on these things, considering his expertise in metals and jewels.

After a short time he nodded, and said "Aye, this be it. Best be headin' back to town now, collect our reward." Jericho nodded in agreement, and they headed west, towards the road that lead to the town. Judging by the amount of light, he figured they wouldn't make it there tonight, but probably around midday tomorrow.

"So Torgir, how much do you think we'll get for that little jewel there?" Jericho asked as they left the forest and turned north on the road.

Torgir scratched his head for a moment. "Well…it looks like it'd sell for about five hundred gold pieces, so I'd wager around six hundred, a little more than it's worth to assure we don't go off and sell it for a better deal." Jericho nodded his understanding, and glanced up the sky.

The next hour or so passed in silence, both travelers tired and just wanting to get to Fayegoria, the town they were headed too. Torgir stopped where he stood and looked around. After a brief examination of the area, he nodded, and began to layout a bedroll tied to his back.

Jericho watched his companion and then said "Well, guess I'll go find something for us to have for dinner, right Torgir?" The dwarf nodded and continued setting up camp. Jericho grinned at his little friend, and headed off into the woods.

Jericho had returned within 15 minutes with two dead rabbits, one for each of them. Torgir had already set up the fire and had a stick ready for meat to be cooked.

"Aye!" Torgir laughed heartily, "Looks as if you've caught us another great meal lad! Just hand them to me and I'll start cooking so you can set up yer bed for the night." He reached up and took the two rabbits offered to him and stuck them on the stick.

The two spent the rest of the night talking and laughing, eating and drinking for a wineskin carried by Torgir. After they had had their fill of food and drink, they both closed their eyes, and slept peacefully.

The leaves on the trees ruffled as a foul wind blew past two sleeping adventures, then, as if deciding it changed it's mind about passing them by, it began to circle around them. It blew around them, it blew over them, it examined them. Then there was dark laugh, like the wailing of a thousand dying men, and the evil breeze departed.


	3. Chapter 2: Ambush

Chapter 2

Torgir sat up and stretched his arms as far above his head as he could, then opened his mouth and yawned. He looked around groggily, seeing a campfire going with what looked like two small squirrels roasting over it.

"Morning Torgir!" Jericho said as he spun the squirrels over the fire. "I was up bright and early, so I went off and caught us some breakfast. Hope you don't mind the size, I figured small would be good so we could head to town fast as possible."

The dwarf nodded tiredly and scratched his chin through his short red beard, and muttered "Aye, good planning lad, good planning." As he got up and began to organize the belongings for their leave-taking.

He checked over all their gear mentally. His trusted bastard sword was there, their bedrolls, Jericho's weapons of choice, the amulet they had retrieved, their armor, and their gold bag. All seemed to be in order. He went to sit by the fire, then turned and noticed the gold bag had fallen over. He shrugged, supposing a wind had picked up in the night, though he would've felt something strong enough to tip over their hefty gold bag, but then decided to think nothing of it.

They quickly downed their small squirrel dinner, strapped on their armor and weapons, lifted their packs to their backs, and started down the road again. There was a small breeze that day, that blew the dirt of the road around gently. To their right, the leaves blew gently on the thick forest growth, and to their left stretched gently blowing grasses, that covered the slopes of the hills of Fayegoria.

About an hour and half went by before they topped the hill from which they could see the small inland town of Fayegoria, and they both sighed in slight relief at the thought of the soft beds, and their reward for the mission they had completed. Renewed and in good spirits, they took for the town in a pace faster than before.

However, in a matter of minutes, the two realized their trip would not end in peace, as an arrow whizzed from the forest and bent against Torgir armor before falling to the ground. They both reacted quickly, Torgir drawing his swords moments before Jericho shot three arrows into the dense woods, and getting lucky. They heard a small, raspy screech, and the thump of a small body. They waited at the ready for a few minutes, then decided it was just one renegade something, and lowered their arms.

However, at that exact moment, a small group of 5 small kobold warriors charged out of the forest screaming, spears pointed at the pair of wanderers. The dwarven man responded with a shout of his own as he drove his sword into the chest of the nearest attacker, then drew it out and slashed another one across the arm.

Jericho was not so lucky, only having had his bow ready. He fired off a shot that missed due to his panic, and got a decent nick in the arm from a spear tip. He dropped his bow and slashed at his attacker with a small dagger, hitting across it's scaly reptilian snout. He looked to Torgir, and saw he was doing ok with his two remaining attackers, so promptly dodged a spear thrust and drove his dagger into the head of the other kobold, letting it stay in as he dodged another thrust while the body fell to the ground.

Torgir let out another loud cry, and brought his sword down right on the head of one of the small creatures, slicing it in half down to the chest level. He then kicked the other in the stomach in his moment of opportunity while the other watched his comrade fall in shock. As the kobold stumbled back, he ran towards Jericho and his attackers, taking off the head of the kobold that still attacked his partner.

Jericho regained his footing after evading his attackers weapon, and quickly picked up his bow and aimed for the last kobold, who was just getting ready to charge after regaining it's strength. It plowed at them as fast as it could, a viscous sound escaping it's throat, which was followed by a gurgle as an arrow lodged itself in his windpipe.

The two stood panting for a moment, looking at each other, and the bed bodies on the ground, before Torgir spoke. "Well, if thar be kobolds, thar be more kobolds. Aye, we best be making for Fayegoria as fast we can." Jericho quickly nodded in agreement, and they both took for the town, excited by their victory, though small, but not excited enough to pay no attention. Nothing happened to come from the forest again though, and before they new it, they stood at the gate to the small town, of Fayegoria.


	4. Author's Note

Author's Note

Ah, well here it is. The story's not done, I'll keep writing it, but updates will be very infrequent. I've started a new semester at school and I'm getting nailed with homework. You can expect another update soon however. I would like to thank my two reviewers, and let them know I will keep in mind their advice.


	5. Author's Note 2: Hiatus

This story is on hiatus. Sorry guys, I just wasn't getting anywhere with it. I might take it up again later, but until then you can check out my new story!


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